Srikanth seals final spot at India Open

Former champion Kidambi Srikanth broke a 17-month long drought by reaching the finals of the USD 350,000 India Open after prevailing in a three-game thriller in the men's singles competition here Saturday.

Srikanth had entered the finals of Commonwealth Games last year but he failed to reach the summit clash in any BWF superseries or BWF World Tour tournament since his French Open win in October, 2017.

The 26-year-old from Guntur eked out a 14-21 21-16 21-19 triumph over China's Huang yuxiang in an engrossing semifinal. He will face either second seed Viktor Axelsen or India's Parupalli Kashyap in the final.

"It's been really long since I reached a final. I'm just happy to be here, playing the final again," Srikanth said.

"I was trailing in the decided and I am happy to pull it off. I'm happy to come back in the second. It was about keeping the shuttle in. The crowd kept me going."